Australia retain the Ashes

Cricket: Australia have defeated England by 185 runs to retain the Ashes in England for the first time in 18 years.

Mitch Marsh is back, baby.Source:AP

The Ashes urn is coming home and a familiar face is back in the Australian team.

Vice-captain Travis Head has been dropped from the 12-man squad for the Fifth Test starting Thursday night (AEST) with all-rounder Mitch Marsh earning a recall to the side.

It makes it call up number six for Marsh in a decision that left many commentators stunned and rightly so.

Head may have struggled this Ashes series, averaging just 21 with the bat, but his worst series is still almost as good as Marsh’s career average of 25 with the bat — and an appalling 12 in England.

Marsh, who has seemingly had more chances than most to make an impact, is again being tried in the allrounder slot, which has remained a problem for Australia since Shane Watson pulled the pin on his Test career in 2015.

The decision to turn to the West Australian left commentators laughing at the selectors — The Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph, leading the charge.

“Mitch Marsh in. The man who has had more chances than anyone in else in Australian sport,” Ralph tweeted.

He was quickly joined by a host of others who went from pointing out a vice-captaincy curse to calling the decision “disgraceful”.

The allrounder’s elevation, at the expense of Head, is primarily because selectors want to ensure Australia’s fast bowlers are given some respite in the Oval series finale.

But it is a chance for Marsh to stand up and show the improvements he’s made since last year’s Boxing Day Test, when he last donned the baggy green.

Marsh was appointed vice-captain prior to the home summer of 2018-19 but things then went from bad to worse in a period he dubbed “the most challenging eight months of my life”.

The 27-year-old was axed from the Test side, suffered severe bleeding after a blow to the box at training, then was overlooked for the World Cup squad and lost his Cricket Australia contract.

“He got some pretty honest feedback when he was dropped,” Tim Paine said. “About where he was at both physically and with his cricket. He had a choice to make. Either to sulk about it or to do something about it ... Mitch at the moment is as fit as we’ve seen him. He’s worked his backside off.

“Certainly when he’s fitter, his bowling goes to another level. Obviously if you’re a boy the size he is, it’s hard to run in all day when you’re carrying a few extra kilos.”

Paine’s comments were supposed to paint a positive picture but will surely leave Aussie cricket fans wondering why Marsh — who had enjoyed more chances than most before being dropped last time — was still unfit in the first place at that point of his career.

Mitch Marsh. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)Source:Getty Images

At least he appears to have finally learned his lesson. Marsh hired a personal trainer and did some work at AFL club West Coast, wanting to leave no stone unturned as he hunted an Ashes recall.

“I didn’t have a lot of fun last summer. Spending time away from the game, it gives you a bit of time to reflect on what you need to work on,” Marsh said after top-scoring in Australia’s recent tour game in Derby.

Paine didn’t reveal who delivered the forthright feedback but it’s believed to have come from national coach Justin Langer, a lifelong mentor for the son of good mate Geoff Marsh.

The captain added that Ben Stokes’ superb home summer with both bat and ball, and his work ethic, is something Marsh is “aspiring to”.

“We’ve constantly spoken to him about being at that level of fitness where you can bowl 25, 30 overs and then come out and score a hundred,” Paine said.

Marsh looked to have arrived when he scored two tons in the 2017-18 Ashes, then a match-winning 96 in the first Test of Australia’s ill-fated tour of South Africa in 2018, but ankle surgery stalled his development.

Head won’t be lining up in the final Test.Source:AP

Paine is adamant Australia will be sharp as Joe Root’s side hunt a consolatory win in their final game under the mentorship of Australian coach Trevor Bayliss.

“It’s not at all (a lesser match) and we don’t have to talk about it because we came here to win the Ashes. We didn’t come here to retain them,” Paine said.

“One of the reasons we’re waiting on making a call on our team … and what’s right for the players is because we see this as one of the biggest Test matches we’re going to play.”

Paine cited the Test championship, the final of which is set to be staged at Lord’s in 2021, as another important factor for his team.

“There’s no such thing as dead rubbers and certainly against England, there’s never a dead rubber. We’re up for it. We’re ready,” he said. “We want to be here at the end of this Test as a team that’s won … rather than let it peter out to a draw or a loss. It won’t be the same for us.”

Paine, like coach Justin Langer, backed David Warner to end a series of struggles against Stuart Broad on a high note.

Warner has tallied 79 runs at 9.87 this series. “There’s always pressure on David Warner, everywhere you go he’s a cricketer that opposition teams want to get out and want to get on top of,” Paine said.

“He’s a really important part of our team. He hasn’t had the series he would’ve liked but two hits ago he got 60-odd in the toughest conditions at Headingley.

“I’ve got full confidence in David that when he does click into gear he’s going to win us a Test match and I think it’s going to be this one.”

England announced two changes to their squad ahead of the Test at The Oval with struggling batsmen Jason Roy dropped along with Craig Overton. Sam Curran and Chris Woakes have been brought into the side.